Nikki Haley Walks Out on U.N. Plan to Ban Nuclear Weapons

If there was any doubt in your mind that the United Nations has become unhinged, that’s been settled.

The U.N. General Assembly wants to “negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination,” according to the United Nations website.

Nearly 40 member nations are not having it, and it turns out they’re the ones with clout. The U.S., Great Britain, France, Russia, China and dozens of other members are not participating in the talks, according to The New York Times.

At a news conference Monday, held at the same time the General Assembly was debating the nuclear ban, American U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley made it clear why the popular kids weren’t coming to the party.

“Is there anyone that believes that North Korea would agree to a ban on nuclear weapons?” Haley asked, according to Reuters.

“You are going to see almost 40 countries that are not in the General Assembly today,” Haley said. “To ban nuclear weapons now would make us and our allies more vulnerable, and would strengthen bad actors like North Korea and Iran who would not abide by it.”

Haley encouraged the U.N. to continue its commitment to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, in which the first five nuclear powers – the U.S., the U.K., the USSR (now Russia), China and France – agreed to develop non-military uses for nuclear energy and encourage gradual decommissioning of nuclear weapons, according to the U.K. Independent.

North Korea later signed the treaty, but pulled out in 2003 and has been developing a nuclear program with clear intent to threaten its neighbors and the U.S.

“Our countries continue to rely on nuclear deterrence for security and stability,” said French deputy ambassador Alexis Lamek, who joined Haley at the news conference.

Gen. Curtis “Mike” Scaparrotti is the supreme allied commander in Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations and the commander of the United States European Command. He told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that a ban on nuclear weapons is unrealistic in view of Russia and North Korea’s aggressive nuclear expansion, according to Fox News.

“It is occurring in a world where we have North Korea, in particular, who is in violation of U.N. sanctions and resolutions,” he said. Scaparrotti also told the committee that Russia is “also aggressively improving their modernization of their nuclear weapons.”

Russia, North Korea and Iran are no doubt dreaming of a day when the United States and other Western countries agree to a ban nuclear weapons. They could ramp up their programs while the leaders of free countries watch and worry until it’s too late.

In other words, when nukes are outlawed, only outlaws will nave nukes. We cannot afford to take that chance.